Method of making plastic articles



Nov. 3, 1953 c. E. SLAUGHTER 2,657,431

METHOD OF MAKING PLASTIC ARTICLES Filed Feb. 8, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l W. y//M I ,n m Wwf/ 5 ma.

FIG.4

23 INVENTOR.

CHARLES E. SLAUGHTER 'SAL AT TORNEY Nov. 3, 1953 c. E. SLAUGHTER METHOD 0F MAKING PLASTIC ARTICLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 8, 1951 INVENTOR. CHARLES E'. SLAUGHTER SrL,

ATTORNEY NOV- 3, 1953 I c. E. sLAuGHTI-:R 2,657,431

METHOD oT MAKING PLASTIC ARTICLES Filed Feb. 8, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 5 '29 FIG. 1o

`xllllllllll'llllllmlw nllllllulllllllllllllml| ""f INVENToR. CHARLES E. sLAuGHTl-:R

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1953 f2,657,431 ME'rHoo VoF MAKING PLAs'rIo gn'rIQLEs .Charles E. Slaughter, New Canaan, Conn., asf signor to Extruded Plastics, Inc., a corporation`r of Qenueeitleut vApplication February 8, 1951, Serial No. 209,939 e claims', (c1. 18755) This .invention relates to methods et makina artleles of Plastic nartleularla' to aritleles of. thin#v Walled eharaeten sueh as collapsible tunes- A number of methodsanel Inaehlnes have been proposed in the prior art for .the production-of various types of articles, and for example in .inaking .plastic bottles by the blowing process, Mills Patent No.v 27,515,093 isillustrative. Basically, this and similar patents cover the extrusion or injection ofa soft, heatedheavy Walled plastictube extruded into a die made up of two halves which may be opened or Closed hv fluid pressure- Due to the comparatively heavy Wall as compared to thelenath of the. tube that is used in the Vhlevelne Process the extrusion @an be handled- Materials such as polyethylene which soften by heat but do not melt, utilizes in tuningv for lsueh hun poses, oalllfor -heav-sl Wall tfniekness and contrareti-vel-y short length. te enable ther-.n te withstand the amount of Vhandling reuulreel- Sfuehneaetlees would loe useless inane attenant te -lnanllfaetlll-e .articles of thin. bed-v wall, sueh 'as `eollaleslhle tubes, and it would he impossible te eontrel a thin .walled tubing either vertically er horizontally ,lav the `prior art methods.

Among the ohieets of the Present invention ls the production of extruded artleles andtnethods ler makina thern Whleh enableeollanshle tunes to. he produced readily and eeonontleallv trein Plastis- Other objects include the utiligjation or the prin-,- eiples, and methods of the ntesellt lntent,. nroduetioh of a variety of artleles, sinne the methods are ,adaptable te utilization Wielespreadnelels- Still iur-ther objects and advantages of the nl tesent invention will .annear fron-1 the there de: tailed aeserlntion set forth below lt vheine funden ,stood that suon more detailed deser'intlonis given by way of illustration and explanation only .and not by way of limitation sinne various changes therein may he nlade luv those ,skilled in the art wlthout denen-ting from the'sope ,and spirit of the presenti vent" eehheetlon h that ,more 'detailed descrip: tion there is in vthe accompanying drauf ings, Ain p 1 e :Figure l, aloneitutlinal .erossseeton through a lcarrier ,or mand-.relused as al support for the glatte altlele; in

Figure 4, a vertical section through -a fragmentary viewof the'extruder and mold; in

Figure 5, a Vertical section through the lmold with the plastic covered mandrel in position prior to expansion of the plastic; in

Figure 6, a similar View to that of Figure 5 showing the Vexpanded plastic; in

Figure 7, a fragmentary detail in section of the fluid delivery for expansion; in

`Figure 8, a plan View of the extrusion produced herein for utilization for collapsible tubes; in

Figure 9, a fragmentary perspective view of 4a. portion of a machine; and in Figure 10, a plan View of the mold.

In accordance with the present invention, plastic articles are produced by depositing the desired organic plastic material on a carrier or mandrel to facilitate handling and manipulation of the plastic. The plastic covered carrier or mandrel is then subjected to successive manipulativel or other treatments to produce a desired article therefrom after which the article is freed from the carrier or mandrel and the latter returned to the cycle for reuse. In this way it is possible to manipulate and shape organic `plastic materials in procedures which would be impossible otherwise. For example, as indicated above, the prior art has not produced thin walled non.d self-sustaining collapsible tubes from plastics, of satisfactory character by economical procedures. The present invention by utilizing a carrier or mandrel vas the support for the plastic throughout the cycle of operations eliminates the dimculties and solves/the problems of the art. Collapsible tubes made from trennte nlastles anu having thinfwalls may be produced readily and economically. l3nt the invention is not limited to production of plastic collapsible tubes, since vother `types of articles may also be produced, and the principles, ,and methods taught herein, are useful in many other Ways and an'lelleahle te the production of a variety oi articles.

The carrier used is a tubular mandrel having a central bore and a multiplicity of perforal tionsApenetrating the walls of the .mandrel from the central bore to the exterior `sluface of the mandrel. Most desirably the bore is closed at one end and Open at the other, so nthat a uid such as air may be introduced into the bore to penetrate the perorations and expand a plastic thereon. A mandrel having both ends open may be used if one end is temporarily 4closed to block exit of fluid during the blowing operation, but the preferred form o f mandrel is that described atei/e hanne ene. end eloseu and one .end einen In the movement of the plastic covered or ensheathed mandrels in the present process, it is desirable to use magnetic, particularly electromagnetic devices for such purposes. In that event, the mandrel is desirably produced from magnetizable material such as iron or steel, so that a `generated magnetic iiux can be utilized to direct and control the movement of the mandrel. The mandrels may be readily produced from tube or rod stock as will be apparent. If desired, the mandrel can be made by powder metallurgy technique and shaped from the desired powdered metal and sintered in the usual way to produce a porous side wall of porosity to permit fluid passage therethrough, in lieu of perforations; but in such. cases the end of the porous metal mandrel will be closed permanently or temporarily, during the expanding step as set forth above.

The organic plastic material that may be utim lined. mcy vary widely. Most desirably it is synthetic resinous material, and the thermoplastics are particularly useful. However the term is not intended to exclude materials such es polyethylene. which vsoftens before it melts. As exemplary plastics there may be mentioned celn lulose derivatives including the esters like cellu lose nitrate, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butvrate such as Tonite and the ethers such as ethyl cellulose, benzyl cellulose. etc., polyvinyl materials such as polymerized vinyl acetate and vinylidene chloride, and copolymers of for example vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate, the polyn vinyls being represented for example by Saran; polymerized styrenes, polyacrylates and oolv methacrvlates and polymethyl methacrylates; polyethylenes; nylon resins, and other thermoplastic and resinous compositions particularly those that can be extruded. in continuous lengths.

The plastic is applied to the mandrel so that the perforations are covered by the plastic, In this way uid introduced into the bore will force expansion of the plastic. Any method and rnachine may be used to apply the plastic to the mandrel, and even hand applying operations can be employed. But most desirably extrusion methods and machines are used for this purpose, including such methods and machines as illustrated in Patent No. 2,452,607. As there shown. an extruder of the cross-head type is illustra-ted, a tubular extrusion being produced. Under the present invention, the plastic is extruded as 'tubing continuously in heated expandible condition, and the mandrels are inserted successively with ing the tubing as the tubing attains its tubular shape and as the tubing is being extruded. Any desired means such as feed rolls, are employed to feed the mandrels successively through a passageway in the extrusion head which leads directly to the extrusion orifice so that the mann drels are inserted within the tubing as the latter is being formed, movement of the mandrels being desirably controlled at all times as by magnetic means. In this way the mandrels are each given a coating or sheath of plastic.

The thickness of the plastic tube that ensheathes the mandrel or carrier is dependent on two factors: iirst, the rate of extrusion of the plastic from the die; and second, the rate at which the extruded plastic tube is drawn away from the die. For example, the rate of extrusion of plastic may be kept fairly constant, while varying the movement of the mandrel `in a predetermined manner to control the thickness of plastic deposition, to produce varying thickness of the plastic layer on the mandrel. n this way it is thus possible to increase the thickness of plastic at each end of the mandrel while the plastic covering the perforations is much thinner. It the thicker end portions are held against expansion while the central thinner portion is expanded, the latter will produce an expanded thinwalled tube having a thick-walled rigid portion at each end of the thin-walled tube. If the latter is cut transversely at its center, two collapsible tube blanks are obtained. Any desired variation in wall-thickness deposition ci plastic may thus be produced as desired.

The plastic ensheathed mandrel is then ready for expansion by forcing uid into the bore oi. the mandrel which fluid passing through the perforations will expand the plastic while the latter is in expandible condition. If desired, the plastic ensheathed mandrels may be at one place and shipped to another for production of the expanded article. Generally however, the plastic ensheathed mandrel will be produced by extrusion, and while the plastic is still het enough from the extrusion zone to be expandible, it is subiected to expansion.

For this purpose the mandrel isrplaced in a holder in which it is held in position for blowing air into the central bore of the mandrel. The movement of mandrel to holder may be manual or automatic as for example by controlled electromagnetic operation. If the mandrel has one end closed, the air must pass through the perforations. The holder grips the mandrel at the outer ends of the plastic sheath so that the latter are held against expansion while the central portion of the sheath is expanded. Desirably, the holder is a die which may K be a split die, the parts being separable by mechanical, pneumatic or electrical means, to open position to receive the plastic ensheathed mandrel, and then the die closed to lock the mandrei in position, the central portion of the die being shaped to produce the contour desired by the plastic being blown up into contact with the shaping portion of the die. It may be maintained in expanded condition until cooled or set. The die is then opened, the mandrel removed by the plastic being cut as may be necessary, the mandrel returned to the mandrel storage cha1nber, and the plastic article given any necessary finishing operation.

While these several operations can be carried out manually, a completely automatic operation is economically feasible. For this purpose, the extrusion and production of plastic ensheathed mandrels is carried out continuously. A series of molds is mounted on a turn-table, movement of the molds into receiving position for the plastic ensheathed mandrel-s being synchronized with the production and delivery of the latter. The molds advance step-by-step through the mandrel receiving position where the mold is open and receives the plastic ensheathed mandrel, whereupon the mold closes to grip the ends of the plastic tubing firmly against the mandrel. The closed mold carrying the plastic ensheathed mandrel then moves to the expanding station while the next mold moves into position to receive the next mandrel. At the expanding station, air is blown into the bore of the mandrel to expandV the surrounding tube into contact with the walls of the die or mold. Air under pressure is desirably used as the expansion fluid, and the air pressure is exerted within the now formed plastic tube until the plastic has cooled and becomes solid or set. At this time the die is opened automatically at 4the releasing fstatlcn and theinished articlefejected. "ltis then only necessary to cut -transversely valong the center ofthe expanded tube. remove .the mandrel.. and trim .any flash orsurplus plastic...

. To 'illustrate more specifically-tho operations Vthat Vmay be Carried outreference may tomado to the drawings, The type of mandrel dtsil'ably used vis shown in Figure l where the ztubular mandrel vl has closed. end 2., theotlier end 3 being open andprovided with iaseat fl. `for en.. sagement against a Iiuiddeliveryfline. Perforations 5 are provided trom the 'bore @to :eXllcrlOr surface ofthe mandrel. A magazine or mandrel storage delivers themandrelsautomaticallyand successively to pinch rolls t. vil and. then through an electromagnetic coil lIl which tends to pllll the .mandrels made of maenctiaable material, toward the extruder. The pinch rollSalo driven at a predetermined speed. The extruder II is located just Ybelow,the.delivery'line of thslllllch rolls sand coil it. A passage l2 .through-tho extruder II leads to the extrusion orifice I3 and .the mandrels are delivered to .the passage I2. 'As a mandrel I clears the pinch rolls 9, il, gravity tends t0. pull it out .o the core ofthe die but it cannot be pulled from the die due to .the magnetic force holding it against the next sucoeding mandrel la whoh'in .turn is firmly held by the pinchv rolls 9, 9. The mandrel I, passing through the extrusion orifice .I3 enters the plastic tube I4 as the latter is being extruded, and the plastic tube thus formed about the mandrel I coversthe perforations 5 in the mandrel. At the vbeginning of plastic deposition on the Ymandrel I, the pinchV rolls 9, 9 are slowed down with'the result that theplastic deposition at Ida produces a relatively thick wall. When a suicient thick wall deposition has been producemthe pinch rolls 9, 9 are then rotated at a more rapidk speed to produce the thin wall portion Illb. When a sufcient length Vof thin walldeposition has been obtallied, again the pinch rolls arefslowed down to produce a thick wall deposition Mc toward the other end oi the mandrel.

Asexplained above, feeding-of vthe mandrels I is brought about by the rolls 9. These rolls feed the mandrel at a positive and controlled rate o speed, slower or faster in order to control the wall thickness of the plastic deposited` on the mandrel, faster movement o f course giving a thinner Wall and vice versa, The magnet. lll serves to hold the mandrel under maintained control after it has passed beyond the rolls lin a downward direction. If it were not for this magnet there would be no control over the mandrel after it has left the pinch rolls, and it would tend to drop through the die at an uncontrolled rate of speed under the action of gravity. The magnet tends to pull the mandrel up towards the rolls and this mandrel is only carried down againstrthe force of the magnet by the next succeeding mandrel. The operation is particularly important in enabling the movement of the mandrel to be under complete control at all time. Magnetic control in this way is readily effected. While other types of control can be utilized, the magnetic control is most easily carried out.

Immediately beneath the extruder II, a split chuck or die I5 is mounted to receive the plastic ensheathed mandrel. The die I5 is opened and closed by cam, spring or other action. It is in open position as shown in Figure 4 while mandrel I emerges with its sheath of plastics from the extrusion prince I3. Immediately below the. open dieser; .carried onine same bascplatetllat supe portszthed 's a coro. it surrounded by a power? f.. manet IL The-core IG. has abort i8 leading to .apered arides lll over which the lower end. of the mandrel I is seated. The orifice la may he either male as Shown in Figure 6 or female as shown inliligure 'l where. core lo has pore Isf leadlngrtc orce I9 which receives the taperedend of mapdrell. air inlotppe 19.! introduces the air under pressure. whichairpassF ins'lntothemandrel expands the plastic,

When the plastic ensheathed mandrel I has entered the open-de l5. and the lcv/cr and of the mandrel is -a short. distance (for example ahorita half inch) from. the core I6, the elec trcmagnet l1 is actuated and ahcavy Surge 0l magnetism produced. This `is suflicicntly power ful :to overcome the magnetic attraction of the uppermagnet Ill onvthe mandrel l and also to break thelow tensile strength of thc hot `plastic tuloebetweenmandrol l and thc ncstsucosodf ine rnruidnel as indicated-c1120. Mandrcl l is thus pulled downwardly under the influence of magnet il into mold l5., The mandrelnext sucseeding mandrel I is however still held by the pinch rolls 3, 5 and therefore is not drawn down with mandrel I at this time.

When the mandrel I with its plastic sheath is in position within mold I5, the mold is closed, the thicker end portions Illa and M c o f plastic being .grppedlirmly between the spltfhalvcs l5', I5.' ofthe mold as shown in Figure 5. A plunger 2I exerts pressure on the upper end of the man.- drel I While air under pressure is admitted' through pipe 1:91. The plastic is hot .enough to be aexpandible, and the air entering through ps rrorations k5l (Figure 6) expands the central portion 22 ci tho plastic tube into contact With the mold Walls '12Std shape the bod-.v of the. ex.-

pandedplastic tube. The ends Ma and Isc are molded at the same time into threaded cap-re Solving ands 24, llhdmold halves heilig Vthreaded for this purpose. The portions of the heavy walls Mc .and 14o between the ends 24., 24 and the central portion 22 form shoulder portions 25. .25 of rigid character between the ends 2.4i, -25 and the thin wall flexible-central portion Z2. As soon as the plastic has-cocled-orfset, the mold is opened and the mandrel supported expanded tube is re.-

:moved The latter is cut, transversely at 2E to Aform two collapsible tube preforms, the mandrel removed. v.and any dash op the preform ends rcmoved.

mold opening 28, and further movement of table 21, carries the lever 30 past the cam 3|, so that the mold halves move together to grip the plastic covered mandrel as described above. The mold carrying plastic covered mandrel then moves through an arc (for example 15) to the expanding station, while the next succeeding mold moves into mandrel receiving position.

At the expanding station, as soon asV the rst mold has come to rest, the plunger 2| movesr culating in the mold halves l', I5' in cored passages 3i, 3|. Plunger 2| is withdrawn and the air blast discontinued automatically. Movement of the table 2l to the releasing station then takes place where the mold is opened by cam and lever action exactly like that described above for Figure 9 to release the expanded article. desired, the stations are desirably so operated that the opening of the mold to eject the finished article is one step preceding the mandrel receiving station, the mold being maintained opened by the cam operation at both of these stations. The operation of the mold for opening and closing, the air blast control, and the ejection stations m-ay be carried out in any desired Way as for example by the same mechanism and by the same procedures as described in my application 772,095, filed September 4, 1947, for the same types of operations.

It has been pointed out above that when electromagnet il is actuated and a heavy surge of magnetism produced, it is suiciently powerful to break the low tensile strength of the hot plastic tube between mandrel I and the next succeeding mandrel. This operation may be desirably utilized With plastics that offer diiculty in causing severance at a particular point. For example, it is very difficult to cut polyethylene in its plastic state because it is extremely sticky and tenacious. However at certain temperatures it may be fractured by a sudden jerking motion, and this operation may be utilized to separate the ensheathed mandrel in the forming die l5 from the mandrel travelling immediately behind, by this shock method. When the magnet I1 at the bottom of the die l5 is energized while the mandrel is still about 1/2 inch from the stop, the sudden energization may be utilized to separate the mandrel by a sharp, clean severance of plastic.

While the dimensions of collapsible tubes produced by the present invention, may vary widely as desired, the following illustrative data is exemplary. For a collapsible tube 1 to V11/4" in diameter with a nished length cf from 5" to 7, the Wall thickness may desirably be from f .010" to .012 .with a neck about double that thickness. As indicated such collapsible tube may be made two at a time, the total lengthbeing from 10 to 14 and the thickness of the plastic around 1A," mandrel being approximately .040l to .045 in thickness.

In fact if Y Having thus set forth my invention, I claim:

1. In a method of making expanded plastic articles, the steps of extruding organic plastic material in heated deformable condition, in the form of tubing, successively inserting a series of discrete tubular mandrels within the tubing as the latter attains its tubular shape as the tubing is being extruded, each mandrel having a central bore and perforations penetrating the mandrel from said bore to the exterior surface of the mandrel, the plastic covering the mandrel over the portion of the latter having perforations, withdrawing kplastic covered mandrels successively from the extruding zone, transferring said plastic covered mandrels successively to an expanding zone, introducing uid into the plastic coveredvmandrels successively to expand said plastic, setting the expanded plastic, and removing thev expanded plastic from its mandrel.

2. A method as in claim 1 in which the expansion ofthe plastic takes place Within la Zone which restricts and determines the shape of the expanded plastic.

3. A method as in claim 1 in which the mandrel is of magnetizable material, and a magnetized zone is produced adjacent the extrusion zone to draw the mandrel successively into the extruded tubing.

' CHARLES E. SLAUGHTER.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 688,924 Blair et al. Dec. 17, 1901 1,127,381 Byrnes Feb. 2, 1915 1,930,788 Buckner Oct. 17, 1933 2,003,707 De Witt June 4, 1935 2,236,414 Reach Mar. 25, 1941 2,324,645 Prehler July 20, 1943 2,353,825 Hofmann July 18, 1944 2,452,607 Slaughter Nov. 2, 1948 2,458,920 Wheller et al, Jan. 11, 1949 2,469,130 Rodman, Jr lVIay 3, 1949 2,495,119 McDevitt Jan. 17, 1950 2,515,093 Mills -July 11, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 545,937 Germany lvar. 9, 1932 568,090 Great Britain li/Iar. 19, 1945 587,064 Great Britain Apr. 11, 1947 697,536 Germany Oct. 16, 1940 822,497 France June 4, 1943 

